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LC - best of luck with your surgery! A friend of mine had her gall bladder removed and her experience was that you just need to take it easy for 2 weeks, don't push yourself, she felt almost 100% at the 2 weeks point. Take care!

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littlecow the landlord has a mini donkey. Ill have to take a pic for you. Hes got a couple other regular donkeys too. The jenny Sophie loooves attention. I just found recently that she absolutely loves to be fly sprayed, its the funniest thing. Its almost like she knows exactly what youre doing and is greatful lol.

That's funny! Our Rosie is just like that. She loves her pampering.

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When we were moving in, she asked if we would sell her our round pen panels. I told her they were old and not worth much but we needed them. I also told her where to buy good new ones. She said she needed them for the two year stud colt she bought and that she was going to start breeding QHs. I wished her good luck and that was that.

Next, she saw me walking Maggie pony and texted me to ask if I would breed my stud mini to her mini mare. I told her gently that it was a Shetland mare.

After that, when i brought Freckles the Appy gelding home, she texted me saying that she saw our new Appy and had a perfect stud for her. I gently told her that it was a gelding, not a mare.

So, my impression was not good. I don't think she shows. I don't think she rides. You can't see her pens from the road, but the place looks a bit run down.

Her two dogs would always follow her down the road and out onto a busy street, then walk back on their own. They looked pretty bad and were known for killing people's cats. I yelled at one once with a possum in it's mouth (he dropped it and skulked off). Our AC won't come out for loose dogs and these were wary and a bit aggressive, so no one wanted to catch them. Last week, one of those dogs limped home on three legs. The other one didn't come home. I have not seen the dogs again.

We went to a party at the neighbor's house (right next to her). They have a big field with a donkey and a draft cross. I asked about their animals and they have absolutely no experience with horses. The crazy breeder lady gave them a stud donkey. When the donkey kept trying to get out, she sold them a neglected mare she picked up from auction somewhere, to "keep the donkey happy". Now, the owners are excited because they think their mare might have a mule foal. They weren't really part of this plan, but, thought since she is a breeder, that she knew the best thing to do. No vet care, but they have fattened them up up on the field grass. I offered to help with the horse and donkey, which they were very receptive to. They think they might have a halter and they rode the donkey once (lead the kids on him). He sounds friendly. My idea is to give them some basic things, like spare halters, a hoof pick, and a basic brush. See if there are any major issues to address right now, and if not, get them to handle the animals more and find a safe place to tie them up for grooming. Then, I can gently address the vet care needed. No vet will come out if the animals can't be handled safely. The mare and donkey have been together for 8 months. Mare needs prenatal exam. Donkey needs gelding. Hopefully, what they think they have is not what they actually have. Many hay bellies have been mistaken for pregnancies. Many geldings have been mistaken for studs.

Anyway, I will try to help once I recover from surgery. It will be a few weeks.

I am shocked at the level of ignorance. The problem is that if you come out with guns blazing, you won't help. Maybe the breeder lady doesn't know any better. I know the neighbors are innocent since they were led into this situation. A little finesse can at least help the donkey and mare.

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So, I had an equine emergency with Ever today because Chrome was his usual jerk self.

I turned Ever out into the corral and he stayed in the run-in shed to eat hay, didn't think anything of it and was going back to the house. Chrome came in and my guess is Ever felt he had no escape except to jump in the manger - with half a round bale in a hay net!
I turned back when I heard the scrambling hooves and saw Ever IN the manger on top of the hay, struggling with his hooves. I was loudly shouting Whoa! in hopes of getting him to stop moving but as I came in, he turned himself on top of the hay and tried to jump out. With a hoof twisted in the bale net.

He rotated over the manger rail and whomped on the floor on his left side, right front hoof over the top edge of the manger and twisted in the net.I grabbed the box knife and sliced through both ropes of the bale net to release the tension and then used my hands to peel the netting off his hoof.When I freed his hoof, his chest was still against the manger with his left foreleg folded against it so I grabbed a rope to go in and try to pull his head away, or flip him over, so he could get up but before I could climb out of the manger he got himself standing. I separated the horses and went to the house for my husbandto help me assess the injuries.

The biggest injury on the side of his right cannon looked like I could see bone and we decided to call the vet. Countryside arrived in less than 25 minutes from the time of injury. Dr Smith was pleased to see him using all four legs and the wounds were mainly just scrapes.
NO stitches needed!
She said it didn’t go through all layers and we could just wrap and keep clean and fly free to heal.

She wants me to keep the huge blue wrap on for 3 days and then I can go to a smaller wrap. She left Uniprim to prevent infection and Bute to help with pain and any swelling.

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So, heres my little project. Got tired of having all my coffee cups and all of my wine glasses taking up space in the cabinet. (Oh, who am I kidding, I just made room for more wine glasses, lol.) I just had this idea and the landlord had some pallets laying around. I bought myself a drill and a circular saw and made it happen. I ordered the hooks from Amazon and had one of the maintenance guys hang it up for me. I love love love it.

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Horses can think of the strangest ways to hurt themselves. I'm glad it wasn't worse, Heidi.

Queen, you're right handy! I wish I could give you all the wine glasses taking up space in my cabinet. I don't even drink wine!

Its amazing the things you can do when you have the right tools to do it with. I love my circular saw. These 3 glasses are the ones I use. I have others in the cabinet that are from wineries/vineyards that I dont use because I dont want them to break. I need to find a better way to display them though.

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Ugh, as I was peeling the netting away from his hoof, I kept repeating don't-be-broken over and over in my head. I'm just glad I was there to see it. Had it been a few minutes later, I'd have never found him until after I got home from work and by then it probably would have been too late.

QB - that is ADORABLE! I love how rustic it is and I especially love that you made it yourself.

For displaying things, if you have room in your home, you could use a 2nd china hutch.

When we bought this house we had to buy furniture for the formal dining room (which we didn't have at the other house). We found a dining set to and then husband found a gun cabinet from a private seller and when we went to buy it, they had other furniture in the garage and the china hutch they had was very close in style to the dining set we just bought. At first I thought I'd use it for china overflow, but ended up using it to display our "treasures", which are special to us, but probably 'junk' to other people. It has crystal bowls and vases, a fine tea set, our wedding cake topper, two Breyer memorial horses, the cotton rope my Shepherd-wolf played with, a hay-hook from my mentor horseman, things from foreign countries from our nephew when he was in the Army and a couple framed photos of special people.

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Wow! That's a big wrap. Does it bother him to not be able to bend the right front? Hope he heals up fast. Amazing that he jumped into the manger. I guess you need another board on top? It was pretty tall already.

Second day after surgery. They removed the gallbladder. It was a chronic infection. I saw the pictures and it was an ugly, sick looking organ.

I've had to avoid some foods for over 15 years (thought I was just allergic to them). The last couple of years, the list has grown longer. I never liked fried foods and we don't eat fast food, so I had some uncomfortable stomach episodes, but it took awhile before I had an attack. It was homemade beef stew with soup bones to make the broth and stew meat in the stew. That was high in fat, but tasty! It had leeks, carrots, turnips, and orzo in it, as well as fresh herbs. I took three hours to make it. That got me.

Now, I have an entire gastronomical world open to me. The problem is, because I have avoided so many foods, or had a bad experience with them, I still won't want fried or fast foods. Ice cream will be welcome, though. Eventually.

Edited July 20 by little cow

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Its amazing the things you can do when you have the right tools to do it with. I love my circular saw. These 3 glasses are the ones I use. I have others in the cabinet that are from wineries/vineyards that I dont use because I dont want them to break. I need to find a better way to display them though.

I remember buying my first circular saw. I asked the hardware man to put the blade on. When I got home and read the owner's manual, I found out he put it on backwards! (I miss owner's manuals. I know there are how to videos on YouTube but some of those people might be as clueless as the hardware man.)

Heidi, that vet bill is going to be enormous just for the amount of vet wrap and padding!

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Wow! That's a big wrap. Does it bother him to not be able to bend the right front? Hope he heals up fast. Amazing that he jumped into the manger. I guess you need another board on top? It was pretty tall already.

Second day after surgery. They removed the gallbladder. It was a chronic infection. I saw the pictures and it was an ugly, sick looking organ.

Watching him take the first couple steps was funny, he high-stepped on all fours for the first few minutes. He figured it out pretty quickly, how to step up and down and last night when I did bed-check, he was laying down and got up pretty well to greet me. I put him on grass today.
I can't put another board on top of the manger as then they wouldn't be able to reach the floor. Don't want to put a board they have to duck under as if anyone spooks, they'd crack their head. Ken is mulling some ideas. I showed him something called a "tombstone" panel and he thinks he can weld something similar.

I'm glad your surgery went well. I didn't get to see the part of my colon they removed but the Dr. told me that portion was completely diseased over the outside layer. Inside, it looked inflamed like the rest of the colon length, but outside it was clear what the damaged area was.
Your stew sounded wonderful! I'm sorry it was the trigger but I'm hopeful it has become the blessing-in-disguise as it prompted the surgery that will allow you to eat again. You know yourself best, start slow and see what you do and don't tolerate. As far as not eating greasy, fried or fast food - I tend to avoid those and can't say I feel as if I'm missing anything.

6 hours ago, jubal said:

Heidi, that vet bill is going to be enormous just for the amount of vet wrap and padding!

It won't be too big. Vet says I can remove it Monday and I can just wrap the injury itself w/out the standing wrap after that. She did this to help prevent swelling for the first few days after the injury.

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So I had to totally miss out on a fun gala last night related to the Big Boy steam locomotive. Hubby & Shortman went, Shortman was introduce to the man that is head of Union Pacific steam program. The gentleman was nice to have his PUC taken with Shortman & also signed the special edition cover of trains magazine. Talk about making a 9yr olds day. Oh & it was encouraged for guests to dress steam punk.

Hubby & dressed up Shortman on open platform of UP business car. I wasn't totally forgotten. Hubby bought me a pair of car marker lamps for my business car on silent auction.

You guys may remember Fiona and the bra. Well, it was working, but, her udder was more swollen Sunday and she was lying down more. Of course, I was inside watching while trying to heal from surgery. By Monday, I was well enough to help with feeding more. Fiona was sick. I could feel heat radiating from her ears, her eyes were dull, her udder was swollen, and she was slow to move. We brought her in and her temperature was 103.5 and she just looked awful. The vet came out and gave her antibiotics and banamine. She was better Tuesday morning, but worse Tuesday night. The vet was hoping she could hold out til Friday when he got back in town, but I don't think the antibiotic was reaching her udder. We were worried about gangreneous mastitis. Since I was feeling better this morning, I hitched up the trailer and called the vet school. We loaded up Fiona. Then, we haltered her two month old calf, Ursa, for the first time, and loaded her up with mama. They got two liters of fluid out of her udder and are sending it off for a culture. She felt a lot better after the udder was drained. If she improves overnight, they will schedule her masectomy for Friday. Ursa will be weaned from her and on a bottle, but they will stay together. There is more to being a mama cow than just milk. Since we supplemented Ursa that first week she was born, she should take to the bottle.

Anyway, Fiona gave us seven good calves over the years. She is wonderful with kids, leads and loads easily, and loves her scratches. She has earned retirement and a bit of spoiling.

Bitsey is pouting. She needs attention, but I am too sore to play with her. With Fiona and Ursa at the vet school, we only have one cow in the pasture all alone. When this rain lets up, Bitsey, Maggie pony, Rosie donkey, and Nancy the goat will all go out together to keep her company.

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Oh, man, LC! As I was reading I was wondering how good the prognosis would end up being. I'm glad Fiona will recover.

Ever is doing very well. The swelling on the inside of his Left cannon bone has gone down almost completely. I have been putting Corona Ointment on all of his scrapes and they look good, with smooth skin underneath. The bandage I put on yesterday was still in place and I think when I remove it tomorrow night, I'll evaluate how he's healing and if I can keep it off or need to continue to protect it. When I re-did the bandage the other night, I thought it looked excellent, so odds may be very good for tomorrow night that it can stay off.

In other news .... I've waged all-out war on wasps.

After I turned Ever out yesterday and all three went into the pasture, I decided to knock down wasp nests in the barn. I got three nests knocked down and got stung on the outside of my R hand. I ran out of the barn, still holding the manure fork. I went into the feed-side of the barn and knocked down two more nests, dropped the fork and made a run for it. I thought I was good, but at about 20' from the building (and still running) I got stung twice on my left ankle.
12 hours later, I was doing evening chores - which is scooping the 2x2x7 litter chest on the front porch - when I got stung on my R wrist. I shook it off and then felt something in my blouse, pulled the neck away and saw a wasp on my bra! I slapped it out of there and backed away to see where it had come from. Nothing at the ceiling so I tilted up the hanging swing and saw three nests. I went inside and mixed up some spray in a bottle and soaked them, then came inside to give them time to die before I finished my chores.

Of course I had swelling but after being on my feet most of the day at work, my ankle is on FIRE and has swollen considerably, even after spending a couple hours in the recliner with my feet up and an ice pack on it. If it isn't improved by morning, I think I'll see the Doctor.

***** GREAT GOOGLEY MOOGLEY! As I was typing this, I felt something on my arm, looked down and there was a wasp! I shook it off and then stomped it. I had just come in from the barn and saw that some were trying to rebuild where I knocked down a nest. I took note so I could hit it with wasp killer tomorrow, after I cover the hay with a tarp and the horses are out of the barn. Do you think it recognized me?

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Whoa! I HATE wasps! That really sucks. I am scared of wasps because those buggers get me too often. That is a lot of stings. Are you taking an antihistamine?

One thing I learned about, by accident, is that WD-40 will drop wasps out of the sky. Then, you squish them. The oil weighs their wings down too much. I sneak up on their nests early in the morning, or at sundown, when everyone is home, and squirt the WD 40 with the long straw, Gives me satisfaction.

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I went to the doctor this morning because it seemed to be getting worse. She said I have cellulitis from the stings and gave me antibiotics. She drew around the swellings and I need to make sure the swelling and redness don't grow bigger or I'll have to have IV Abx.
I'm about 4hrs past my first Abx and can already see the redness decreasing. However, some of the redness at my ankle seems to be "falling down" into my foot and the bottom of my foot feels sore, like it's bruised. I'm hoping that is just gravity pulling whatever fluids were there but I'm going to keep an eye on it during the day.

Just after I got home from the Dr:

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Heidi, I'll join your club. Something bit me on the toe & now it is a beautiful red purple along with flu like symptoms. Doc put me on pills & said it could take up to 72hr before start to feel little better. If you haven't cool compresses will help with the discomfort.

There must be a bug virus floating around on HC this week.

LC hearing you talk about your mama cow made me think she would be perfect at the best petting zoo. Being loved on all the time by kids.

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Heidi, oh dang!!!! That makes me flinch. I will spray a few extra wasps for you. Make them hurt.

RRW, oh no, she is family. Especially now. Although I hear New Yorkers will pay good money to come do 'cow therapy'. That wouldn't sell in our town. Maybe I can get them to pull off the highway on their way to Miami to hug Fiona and sit with her.

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LC totally get that she's your family. Seen that headline yesterday about cow therapy & just about tipped over. Take the cost of hay fpr your fee.

I've got some very nice nice large trees I could charge people to sit under & contemplate the meaning of life. This weeks session would cost more. The fair is going on so you get the added benefit of hearing sheep cows horses & happy kids. ( The motel property line is against the fairgrounds)